The majority of borderline ovarian tumours (BOTs) behave in a benign fashion, but some may show aggressive behavior. The reason behind this has not been elucidated. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is known to contribute to cell survival signals as well as metastatic potential of some tumours. EGFR expression and gene status have not been thoroughly investigated in BOTs as it has in ovarian carcinomas. In this study we explore protein expression as well as gene mutations and amplifications of EGFR in BOTs in comparison to a subset of other epithelial ovarian tumours...

BACKGROUND: Although its biological function remains poorly understood, REG4 is reported to be a potent activator of the EGFR/Akt/AP-1 signaling pathway in colon cancer cells and closely linked with the inhibition of apoptosis. METHODS: SKOV3 cells were transfected with a REG4-expressing plasmid or treated with recombinant REG4. We then analyzed proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, invasion and metastasis or expression of related molecules. REG4 expression was examined in normal ovarian tissue, benign and borderline tumors, and cancers by immunohistochemistry or real-time PCR...

UNLABELLED: HASH(0x47f3f88) OBJECTIVES: G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) is a 7-transmembrane estrogen receptor that functions alongside traditional estrogen receptors to regulate the cellular responses to estrogen. Recent studies suggest that GPR30 expression is associated with a poor prognosis, and that this is due to the GPR30-mediated transactivation of the EGFR in breast cancer. However, the biological contribution of GPR30 in ovarian cancer remains unclear...

In this study, we analyzed EGFR, HER2/neu and Ki67 immunoexpression for 26 benign, borderline and malignant serous ovarian tumors. EGFR and HER2/neu immunoreactions were present in some benign/borderline tumors with high/low intensity of immunostain. In poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas, the EGFR/HER2/neu reaction was intense compared to well-differentiated ones. The Ki67 medium proliferation index was 2.1% for benign tumors, 6% in the borderline and 47.7% in malignant tumors. EGFR, HER2/neu and Ki67 can be used to identify benign/borderline tumors with progression potential and the malignant aggressive tumors...

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common cause of cancer death in women world-wide. Treatment consists of a combination of surgical debulking and platinum-based chemotherapy, alone or in combination with paclitaxel. Between 55% and 75% of women who respond to first-line therapy relapse within two years of completing treatment. Second-line chemotherapy is palliative and aims to reduce symptoms and prolong survival. Increased understanding about the molecular basis of ovarian cancer has led to the development of novel agents, such as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and their effectiveness and toxicities in women with advanced ovarian cancer needs to be assessed...

To evaluate the possibility of the targeted therapy for human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER)-2 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in ovarian cancers, we evaluated HER-2 and EGFR gene amplification by using chromogenic in-situ hybridization method in ovarian common epithelial tumors. The increased gene copy number of HER-2 was found in 20 of 90 primary cancers (22.2%), but not in benign and borderline tumors. There were 3 trisomy (3.3%), 10 polysomy (11.1%), and 7 amplification (7.8%). The increased gene copy number of HER-2 was more common in mucinous (45...

OBJECTIVE: To clarify the association of EGFR expression with angiogenesis and chemoresistance in ovarian cancer. METHODS: Immunohistochemical PV-6000 staining was used to detect the expression of EGFR, LRP protein and MVD in 102 ovarian tumor specimens. RESULTS: EGFR, LRP positive rates and MVD in borderline and malignant ovarian specimens were significantly higher than those in the normal and benign ones (P < 0.01). EGFR positive expression rate in stage III-IV carcinoma tissues, poor differentiation and with ascites was higher than that in stage I-II carcinomas of well differentiation and without ascites (P < 0...

BACKGROUND: Mutations in the KRAS gene are one of the most frequent genetic abnormalities in ovarian carcinoma. They are of renewed interest as new epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapies are being investigated for use in ovarian carcinoma. As KRAS mutations are associated with poor response and resistance to EGFR-targeting drugs, this study was conducted to obtain more information on the spectrum of KRAS mutations in ovarian carcinoma. METHODS: The presence of KRAS mutations in codon 12 and 13 was analyzed in frozen and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue with a low density biochip platform...

We studied the roles of three HOXA genes in cultured normal ovarian surface epithelial (OSE) cells and ovarian cancer cells. They included HOXA4 and HOXA7 because, by cDNA microarray analysis, these were more highly expressed in invasive ovarian carcinomas than in benign or borderline (noninvasive) ovarian tumors, and HOXA9 because it characterizes normal oviductal epithelium, which resembles ovarian serous adenocarcinomas. The three HOXA genes were more highly expressed when OSE cells were dividing and motile than when they were confluent and stationary, and also when they dispersed in response to EGF treatment or to reduced calcium concentrations in culture media...

We previously showed that the expressing level of FSH receptor (FSHR) increased from ovarian epithelial inclusions (OEIs) to benign ovarian epithelial tumors (OETs) and to borderline OETs, whereas FSHR levels decreased with an increase in carcinoma grade. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of FSHR in OET development. MCV152 cells with FSHR overexpression showed an increased cellular proliferation and invasive capacity, which was associated with reduced levels of prohibitin and RII-beta expression and increased levels of HER-2/neu, c-Myc, and EGFR expression...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Abnormal expression and activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is closely related to the recurrence and poor prognosis of ovarian cancer, can promote chemotherapy resistance of tumor cells. Lung resistance protein (LRP), a multidrug resistance protein causing platinum-resistance, is an independent factor in predicting chemotherapy sensitivity to ovarian cancer. This study was to explore the correlations of EGFR and LRP to chemotherapy resistance and prognosis of ovarian cancer...

This study investigated the expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), galectin-3 and cyclin D1 in a cohort of ovarian serous carcinomas with regard to outcome and clinicopathologic parameters. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archival tissues of fifty ovarian serous carcinomas were stained with anti-bodies to EGFR, Gal-3, and cyclin D1 by automated immunohistochemistry. Additionally, 10 benign serous cystadenomas and 10 typical serous borderline ovarian tumors were included in the study. Immunostaining was scored with regard to quantity and intensity of positively stained nuclei...

PURPOSE: Dysfunction of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) complex is essential to the growth and development of many human tumors. Overexpression of the EGF receptor (EGFR) is a characteristic finding in a considerable number of solid tumors and often signalizes poor prognosis. There is a major disagreement among researchers about both the frequency and possible clinical importance of EGFR overexpression in ovarian cancer. The type III variant of EGFR (EGFRvIII) is a mutant with a deletion...

Examination of tumor biological factors for prognostic and predictive indicators is not part of routine testing in ovarian cancer. As in other tumors, the detection of hematogenous tumor spread could help to estimate the risk of metastatic disease. We examined the expression of p53, KI67, topoisomerase IIalpha (Top IIa), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and nm23 in tumor tissues from 90 patients with ovarian cancer. All underwent bone marrow (BM) aspiration and screening for disseminated tumor cells in the bone marrow (DTC-BM) at primary diagnosis...

BACKGROUND: Growth factor receptors and cell signaling factors play a crucial role in human carcinomas and have been studied in ovarian tumors with varying results. Cell signaling involves multiple pathways and a myriad of factors that can be mutated or amplified. Cell signaling is driven through the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) pathways and by some downstream molecules, such as 4E binding protein 1 (4EBP1), eukaryotic initiation factor 4E, and p70 ribosomal protein S6 kinase (p70S6K)...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the prognostic effect of p53, Her-2, and EGFR in borderline and epithelial ovarian cancer. Tumor tissue from 85 patients with borderline and 783 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer stage I-IV were analyzed immunohistochemically for p53 positivity and over-expression of Her-2 and EGFR. In the ovarian cancer (OC) group 415 patients (53%) had p53-positive tumors, 272 (35%) had tumors with Her-2 over-expression, and 483 (62%) had over-expression of EGFR. In the OC group the classical prognostic factors (older age, higher FIGO stage, and poorer differentiated stage) had significant prognostic value in both uni- and multivariate analyses...

Twenty-four patients with ovarian serous papillary carcinoma were enrolled in the present ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study. Immunohistochemistry was used to examine the status of proliferation activity with antibodies against Ki67 and BM28, and the status of EGFR family members with antibodies against EGFR, c-erbB-2, and c-erbB-4. Ultrastructurally, poorly differentiated tumors often revealed solid sheets of tumor cells with variable desmosomes, cell connection complexies, and microvilli. No mature cilia, which are often present in benign and borderline ovarian epithelial tumors, were seen in these 24 carcinomas...